domingo, 2 de marzo de 2014

The Global Health Security Agenda goals were recently announced

Safer World: Prevention, Detection, & Response

Even today’s severe snowstorm in Washington was not
enough to deter diplomats, health ministers and secretaries from dozens of
countries from joining us at HHS headquarters to discuss a new agenda for
global health security. We were joined
via satellite by the Directors General of the World Health Organization, the
World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations.

We came together in the belief that everyone –
regardless of which country they happen to live – deserves the basic human
dignity of being protected from infectious disease.

Our world is connected in ways previously unimagined
or foreseen. This greater connectedness
brings with it both new vulnerabilities and new opportunities.

On the one hand, microbes and diseases are moving
faster and farther than ever. And one
thing we know for certain: They do not recognize or stop at national
borders. A threat anywhere is indeed a
threat everywhere.

And yet, for all the challenges we face, we’re seeing
an unprecedented willingness to work together.
Meanwhile, scientists and researchers at places like the National
Institutes of Health are discovering new cures, developing new vaccines, and
unleashing new innovations.

The Global Health Security Agenda is framed around
three primary strategies:

1.Enhanced
prevention of infectious disease threats both naturally-occurring and
manmade.

2.More
robust detection which includes real-time bio surveillance and more
effective modern diagnostics.

3.More
effective response, including a public health Emergency Operation Center
in each country that functions according to common standards.

Global health security is one of President Obama’s top
priorities, and the Administration is working to advance these strategies.

Working together across 30 countries, we can protect
at least 4 billion global citizens within the next five years. And our vision is for all people in all
countries to be effectively protected against the threats posed by infectious
disease.

Ridding the world of infectious diseases is not a
small goal. There are few simple
solutions and no magic cures, but we can’t afford the cost of
defeat—economically, socially, or in the devastating loss of lives. With
prevention, detection, and effective response, we can build a safer world.